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Steve Crawford

@astrocrawford.bsky.social
1.9K followers 1.2K following 229 posts

Astronomer wandering through time and space. Likely to post about #Earth and #Space science especially #astronomy, Open Source Software, Open Science, and space. And hiking with our dog. Opinions are my own. He/him.

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Steve Crawford @astrocrawford.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Whew, this Phillies-Braves series may be in the end of me. These first two games have been intense, but great win by the Phillies today!
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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Omigod, this is the most heartwarming story possible! Backpack (bear 89) is the son of the 2019 winner of Fat Bear Week, Holly (bear 435). In 2007, he injured his foot & a practice of riding on momma's Holly's back had a new meaning: he was mobility-restricted while it healed. So Holly moved him.
From DISCVR blog's Facebook page, a momma bear & a yearling cub on her back in the shallow water.  I think the background has been swapped out, and I can't rule out some AI use there?  God, Facebook has become the social media for AI slop : (

The title of the article, which I link below, is "How Bear 89 earned the name Backpack"
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Steve Crawford @astrocrawford.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Interesting conversation tonight on business cards: I realized it’s just easier to give people key words and either search or LLM tools will return my email.
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Steve Crawford @astrocrawford.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Sharing without much comment but it is an interesting glimpse into the current state of AI use by one publisher: www.frontiersin.org/documents/un...
frontiersin.org
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Steve Crawford @astrocrawford.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Thanks @mta.maryland.gov ! I’m not sure if everyone got the message as I still saw lots of cars from the train. Although I’ll also admit that the rain probably didn’t help.
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PUNCH mission @punch-mission.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
A Year of the Solar Corona, from PUNCH/NFI We just released a full year of PUNCH/NFI data, showing how the #corona evolved during the first 12 months of PUNCH #science operations! ☀️🔭🛰️🧪🚀 whtwnd.com/punch-missio...
A background-subtracted image of the solar corona, from PUNCH/NFI, demonstrates photometric background subtraction.  It is part of a movie containing a full year of PUNCH/NFI observations, available at YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqNTKkoeRCo).
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Brett Morris @brettmorr.is · 17/09/2026
It's a good time to apply for fellowships at @stsci.edu. 🔭 1. Brinson Prize Fellowship (observational cosmology) due Nov 5: stsci.slideroom.com#/login/progr... 2. Laskar Fellowship (astro data science) due Oct 29: stsci.slideroom.com#/login/progr...
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Sarah Kendrew @sarahkendrew.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Incredible experience watching the Springboks vs. All Blacks at the Ravens stadium last night. Largest ever crowd for a rugby match on US soil and Baltimore awash in green & gold (and some black too)
View across a packed Ravens stadium showing the final score, Springboks 43 - All Blacks 28. On either side of the scoreboard is the image of Siya Kolisi of South AfricaView of the corner stands of the crowded Ravens stadium, with the South African flag showing on a digital display above the stand.
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Sarah Kendrew @sarahkendrew.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
If you're having a slow science day, you could come up with some names for this cute space dinosaur for @esa.int. Please only post reasonable suggestions on here, the inappropriate ones should go to my DMs.
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Dr. Amber Straughn (she/her) @astraughnomer.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
This website follows Roman on its journey to L2 😀🚀 (I think the best view is to go to "View Options" and select "System") eyes.nasa.gov/apps/solar-s...
eyes.nasa.gov
Eyes on the Solar System - NASA/JPL
Explore the 3D world of the Solar System. Learn about past and future missions.
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Sarah Hörst @planetdr.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Nice Dragonfly update including the recently approved name of the dune field where we will land We’re going to Ahmakiq undae. go.nasa.gov/4zTQdAA
go.nasa.gov
NASA’s Dragonfly Gets Wired Up While Titan Landing Area Is Named - NASA Science
Peeking into the clean room at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, it might be one of the first things you notice about
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Sarameg @sarameg.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
If you want to keep up with the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s progress: science.nasa.gov/blogs/roman/
science.nasa.gov
Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Archives - NASA Science
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope blog is NASA's hub for the mission's launch updates, where all are invited for behind-the-scenes looks on Roman's road to launch and beyond. This flagship mission...
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Sangeeta Malhotra @astrodame.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Nancy Grace Roman Space telescope is ready to launch. With a field of view 100 times that of Hubble at same resolution, the NGRST will carry out large surveys to detect exoplanets, and study the large scale structure of the universe, to quantify dark matter and energy.
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Jason Hutt @jthutt.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Walked around the neighborhood tonight thinking about the fundamental differences in crew response to a loss of cabin pressure for Moon Base in comparison to every other spacecraft we’ve operated as one does…
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Steve Crawford @astrocrawford.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Swift has been an absolute incredible telescope. Per dollar, it has probably been one of the most productive scientific experiments in astronomy with over 4000 publications over 21 years. And I’m sure the archived data will contribute to many studies in the future!
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Sarah Kendrew @sarahkendrew.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
This and a few further updates are also described in this SPIE paper by me & the whole MIRI team, on the Arxiv today arxiv.org/abs/2608.13873
arxiv.org
Enhancing the performance and capabilities of the MIRI instrument on JWST
MIRI, the Mid-Infrared Instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope, is the only instrument sensitive to wavelengths longward of 5 um on the observatory. In this regime, MIRI brings order-of-magnitude...
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John Debes @johndebes.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Fun news--You can use UV space instruments on HST not optimized for precision RVs to do pretty decent radial velocity work, thanks to UV ISM lines: www.stsci.edu/files/live/s... #astrosci
stsci.edu
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Space Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · 14/08/2026
🌌 Hubble has taken well over a million and a half observations to date. Many of these have become iconic images that are now embedded in our pop culture. A select few have been made into a series of posters that now hang at STScI. Download and print your own Hubble posters!
science.nasa.gov
Hubble Posters - NASA Science
The Hubble Space Telescope has taken well over a million and a half observations to date. Many of these have become iconic images that are now embedded in our
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Steve Crawford @astrocrawford.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
I was looking for something else on the NASA website when I came Across this collection of letters that Astronaut Jerry Linenger wrote to his 14 month old son during his stay on the Mir space station in 1997. www.nasa.gov/history/SP-4... Such an interesting glimpse into life on a space station
nasa.gov
Documents - Jerry Linenger's Letters to his Son
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Don Davis @ddavisspaceart.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
51 years ago I painted a trio of Viking related works for NASA HQ including the widely reproduced one of the landing on Mars. I have reimagined the Landing portrayal in updated form using digital methods of visualization and painting. I chose the same angle but with reality replacing anticipation.
This oil painting portrays the Viking 1 landing on Mars, which appeared in countless publications. The story of this work is relayed in an earlier post and is shown here for comparison with the new portrayal of this very view, showing the event as it would have appeared. 
This 1975 anticipatory painting was done with oils on a gesso smoothed 16 X 20 canvas panel, using traditional art methods including a tracing paper guide featured earlier. 
 This work shows in retrospect my ideal of the 'spirit of space art', showing something of a summary of what is known of the subject while conveying what it is about the subject's known or theorized attributes that I find visually compelling. The new digital painting updates that visual impression with one based on our current knowledge. The new digital work was also done at the same size as this one was for possible printing purposes, 16 by 20 inches at 300 DPI.
 #Sciart   In 1976 the pair of Viking spacecraft orbiter/lander combos were sent to Mars. Before Viking, Mars was still largely a place of our imaginations, an unknown that we wrote stories about then studied from Earth and space. The dominance of cratered terrain on the portions of Mars photographed by Mariners 4, 6 and 7 gave an initially Lunar impression of that world, which changed during the development of the Viking lander after Mariner 9 revealed the planet.
 The first landing was aimed for a flat flood plain, judged as a decent place to search for life. The landing date was July 4, however the intended site appeared too rough for comfort in the high quality orbiter photos, causing the landing to wisely be delayed. A smoother site further 'down stream' was found using photo and radar data.
The landing proceeded quite nominally, a magnificent achievement that apparently accounted for what it had to and made it the first time.

The first photo from the surface was a look at a footpad to see how solid the 'footing' appeared. Then a moderate resolution panorama of the surroundings was obtained, first showing the rocks, hills, dunes-and bright sky. The latter was my biggest surprise as a space artist. 

The adjustments to the color balance of the later photos were gradually narrowed down. The ubiquitous dust is planet wide, suspended in the air and coloring the sky a luminous tan ochre. 

This digital painting shows the view a meter above the surface seeing the lander briefly kicking up dust less than a second before touchdown with the footpads 1.4 meters high. The landing rockets were designed with many nozzles to disturb the surroundings as little as possible. The nearby disturbed dust resembles in color that of the sky. We are 6 meters away from the center of the lander. field of view is 60 degrees, we are looking Northwest with the Sun and Earth off the frame to the left.

This is a digital art update of the pre mission oil painting I did for NASA HQ 1n 1975.

  #Sciart
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Steve Crawford @astrocrawford.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
The best way to the ballpark! And sorry Baltimore, tonight, it’s let’s go Phils!
A white man with glasses and a bike helmet with a red Phillies shirt riding down a tree filled city street with a woman on a bicycle behind him
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Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Another paper from our NASA-funded project on ferns has dropped! UWyoming MS student Fern (really!) Holian, developed a new schema for classifying fossil ferns, which are understudied. 🧪🌿☄️
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Application of a novel schema for describing fossil fern foliage and investigating taxonomic and morphological change across the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary in western North America
Premise The Chicxulub asteroid impact at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary triggered a mass extinction 66 million years ago. Ferns thrived in the aftermath of the extinction, evidenced by the.....
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Steve Crawford @astrocrawford.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
I am at the Patterson Park Simmer concert with Charm city songs and the Down Range army band. Someone just said ‘the point of the army is to preserve great music.’ And I’m like, I want to live in that future where the army is just composed of great musicians and that is their only purpose.
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Steve Crawford @astrocrawford.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
I’m 100% a Phillies fan, but I love Orioles Bluesky.
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Sarah Kendrew @sarahkendrew.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Statement from @esa.int on the Spain wildfires, via ESA's DG @josefaschbacher.esa.int.
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Qiusheng Wu @giswqs.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
GeoLibre v2.3.0 is here! Try it out - Launch GeoLibre Web: web.geolibre.app - GitHub: github.com/opengeos/Geo... - Documentation: geolibre.app - Release notes: github.com/opengeos/Geo... #GIS #Geospatial #OpenSource #RemoteSensing #MapLibre #GeoLibre
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NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory @rubinobservatory.org · 24/07/2026
Talk about a cosmic glow-up✨📸 This progression of images of galaxy group RSCG 55 shows the evolution of ground-based sky surveys spanning more than three decades🤯, ending with NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's view. 🔭🧪
Five-panel image showing the progressive evolution of sky surveys from 1994 to 2025, revealing more and more detail in a triple merging galaxy system and the surrounding sky.
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Steve Crawford @astrocrawford.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
NASA is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Viking Lander on Mars! #nasa #mars science.nasa.gov/mission/viki...
science.nasa.gov
Viking: 50 Years on Mars - NASA Science
Only 10 years before the Viking mission launched, Mars was still just a mottled orange ball when viewed through even the best Earthbound telescopes, with few
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Steve Crawford @astrocrawford.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Weird duck spotted on our walk last night
Wooden dock extending into the water.  The photo is on the underside of it.  At one end are two ducks and the other end is a large bird that isn’t a duck.  A peregrine would be my best guess.  It is brown and white feathered with a pointed beach and yellow feet.  About the size and shape of an American football.
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Steve Crawford @astrocrawford.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
One of my favorite recent highlights from NASA research is this data release from the BioSCape project. It is an audio data set to track the ecosystem and compare with remote sensing in one of my absolutely favorite regions of the world! #NASA #OpenScience science.data.nasa.gov/learn/blog/b...
science.data.nasa.gov
NASA-Funded BioSCape Project Releases Biodiversity Audio Dataset | Science Data Portal
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Steve Crawford @astrocrawford.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Current mood
The inside of a MARC train.  There are blue, plastic seats with one folded up.  Above that is a poster showing how to store your bicycle on the train.  There is a window with the underside of an overpass with stylist graffiti.  Above that is a rack with boxes of purified drinking water.
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Steve Crawford @astrocrawford.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Today I learned about the Huldremose Women and that plaid is at least 2300 years old. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huldrem...
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Steve Crawford @astrocrawford.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Okay I’m off to Copenhagen to be a tourist for a week. What are the things that I shouldn’t miss or the hidden gems?
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Steve Crawford @astrocrawford.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Eating the ice cream for breakfast to save it from melting with having the power out. Good luck to the BGE crew working in this heat to restore power!
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Qiusheng Wu @giswqs.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
GeoLibre v1.5.0 is here! Try it out - Live demo: viewer.geolibre.app - GitHub: github.com/opengeos/Geo... - Documentation: geolibre.app - Release notes: github.com/opengeos/Geo... #GIS #GeospatialData #OpenSource #RemoteSensing #DataVisualization #MapLibre #Python
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Dr. Jessie Christiansen @aussiastronomer.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
We're hiring a software developer! Help bring the next generation of coding practices and tools to the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute, and work with my team in sunny SoCal! Applications are due July 6th, please let me know if you have any questions! phf.tbe.taleo.net/phf03/ats/ca...
phf.tbe.taleo.net
Hiring Application Developer, IPAC - Pasadena, CA
View job details and apply now
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Emily Lakdawalla 🏳️‍⚧️ Uranus Expert @elakdawalla.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Also two staff scientist positions: phf.tbe.taleo.net/phf03/ats/ca... phf.tbe.taleo.net/phf03/ats/ca...
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Emily Lakdawalla 🏳️‍⚧️ Uranus Expert @elakdawalla.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Two postdoc positions are open at Caltech IPAC working on NEO Surveyor: aas.org/jobregister/...
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Dr. Jessie Christiansen @aussiastronomer.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
We're hiring! The NASA Exoplanet Archive at @caltechipac.bsky.social is hiring a staff scientist as we prep for Roman and Gaia. The role is a mix of programmatic support and independent research in my fabulous team in sunny SoCal at Caltech! Due July 10, 2026 - ask me anything! #jobs #exoplanets
phf.tbe.taleo.net
Hiring Staff Scientist, IPAC - Pasadena, CA
View job details and apply now
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Steve Crawford @astrocrawford.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Good thread on recent Miri observations and this is a really interesting approach to handling data processing decisions - looking forward to reading more
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Julie Sofie K. Larsen @juli827g.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
My first peer-reviewed paper is out in Scientific Reports! We studied how narwhals in NW Greenland respond to sea ice conditions, with implications for their future as Arctic ice declines🧊 www.nature.com/articles/s41... #Arctic #Narwhal #MarineBiology #WildlifeConservation
nature.com
Sea ice dynamics structure narwhal presence and seasonal movements in a Northwest Greenland fjord system - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Sea ice dynamics structure narwhal presence and seasonal movements in a Northwest Greenland fjord system
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Dr. Craig DeForest ☀️ @craig.deforest.org · 20/05/2026
Holy cow! Feast your eyes a while, on this gorgeous solar spectrum by the Sol'Ex instrument (assembled by Váradi Nagy Pál). It extends to UV and IR as well as the visible band. Marvel at the F lines, the fine structure, the IR doublets and repeating lines, and the molecular bands. Wonderful! ☀️🧪⚛️🔭
A very broadband solar spectrum reveals the colors of UV, visible light, and infrared light that are missing from the solar spectrum.  The spectrum was collected by the "Sol'Ex" instrument, and assembled by Váradi Nagy Pál.
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Melina Thévenot🏳️‍⚧️ @melina-iras07572.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
I looked at the machine-readable table 1 iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3... I co-discovered 101 of these 3000 brown dwarf candidates. I also co-discovered 2 candidate wide binaries (image). 🟣🟣🔄 (violet because that is probably their real color)
Two images with two red dots marked. The left image labels the dots as L8.5 and T2. The right image labels them as L9 and L5. Questionmarks were added because these are estimates based on their photometry.
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Joe Renaud @spacetides.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
If you are in dc tonight there will be some awesome Artemis II themed talks at @astroontapdc.bsky.social including by the illustrious @vividreams.bsky.social at DC9 astronomyontap.org/locations/wa...
astronomyontap.org
Washington DC – Astronomy On Tap
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Steve Crawford @astrocrawford.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Thank you @mta.maryland.gov for the bike reflector for Bike to work week! I definitely enjoy how easy it is to take my bike on the Marc!
A red reflector for a bike that is held in a hand from the Maryland Department of Transportation
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Steve Crawford @astrocrawford.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Credit and provenance are often removed when using a general LLM. This is a problem as much of the scientific culture is in providing credit and provenance. So if you are not careful, the new idea developed with a general LLM can be someone else’s that was hidden in the training data.
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Steve Crawford @astrocrawford.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Baltimore bike to work week is at least the same as all my other weeks biking to the train to go into work: calling 311 to report vehicles parked in the bike lane. At least I get to talk to the Baltimore 311 operators. They are always very nice and helpful. #baltimore #biketowork
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Steve Crawford @astrocrawford.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
While producing foundation models is interesting, it is even more interesting when they are put into production. In space. science.nasa.gov/science-rese...
science.nasa.gov
NASA's Prithvi Becomes First AI Geospatial Foundation Model In Orbit - NASA Science
A team of researchers demonstrated NASA and IBM’s open-source Prithvi Geospatial artificial intelligence foundation model aboard two in-orbit platforms.
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Steve Crawford @astrocrawford.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Science takes all types of contributions and this is a great example of recognizing volunteer and community contributions when the rise to the level of co-authorship. #nasa #citizenscience #openscience science.nasa.gov/get-involved...
science.nasa.gov
650 NASA Volunteers Have Co-Authored Scientific Papers - NASA Science
After a recent count, NASA Citizen Science is proud to report that more than 650 people who have volunteered to participate in NASA citizen science projects
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Steve Crawford @astrocrawford.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Science takes all types of contributions and this is a great example of recognizing volunteer and community contributions when the rise to the level of co-authorship. #nasa #citizenscience #openscience science.nasa.gov/get-involved...
science.nasa.gov
650 NASA Volunteers Have Co-Authored Scientific Papers - NASA Science
After a recent count, NASA Citizen Science is proud to report that more than 650 people who have volunteered to participate in NASA citizen science projects
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